


Sense of Familiarity

by Trinity_Sparks



Series: An In-Births Guide to The Smash Mansion [2]
Category: Super Smash Brothers, Under Night In-Birth (Video Game)
Genre: Self-Esteem Issues, Swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-03
Updated: 2019-07-03
Packaged: 2020-06-03 04:10:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19456072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trinity_Sparks/pseuds/Trinity_Sparks
Summary: Despite not being a fighter, Hyde ends up feeling out of place due to his game series not being as well known as the others. It's a good thing he ends up meeting someone who has a similar aura as his friend Narukami.





	Sense of Familiarity

**Author's Note:**

> There will be references and slight spoilers to BBTAG as well as Persona 5. Also, I personally prefer Akira Kurusu for the P5 protagonist, I don't mind Ren Amamiya though. You'll definitely be seeing some nods towards it in the future.

When he accepted the offer for the job of Mansion Chef, Hyde never expected to get his own welcome party. He was just standing at the entrance to the dining hall, eyes wide in shock as he took in his current surroundings. There were multicolored streamers hung up on the wall with confetti on the floor from when it showered from the ceiling. There was also a banner that said, in all caps: "WELCOME TO SMASH BROS, HYDE!" Said teen didn't know what to say but didn't get much time to think about it as he was dragged into the Hall as the smashers were eager to celebrate the In-Births arrival.

________________________________________

Hyde was having quite a good time at the party. A majority of the sword fighters were surrounding him at one point, apparently being in awe that there exists a modern day sword fighter. He  _ would _ get nervous talking to some of the fighters as they were very popular. Even though Hyde felt so welcomed by the competitors and that he wasn't one himself, he couldn't help feeling out of place. He was fully aware his game series, Under Night In-Birth, wasn't well known despite its popularity. Practically the only reason so many people _ do _ know about it was probably because of BlazBlue Crosstag Battle, as much as Hyde loathed that moderator bitch for forcing him and his friends to compete in some tag team tournament and also being forced to protect some crystal while fighting due to losing said crystal resulting in being permanently trapped in the mysterious space he was sent into. At least he was able to make even more friends from that living hell of an experience.

Hyde paused as he caught something from the corner of his eye, a flash of black had wooshed by in the crowd. What was that about? He turned back around to see a certain red plumber in front of him, smile wide and mustache as bushy as ever.

_ Mario: _ Hello there, Hyde. How are-a you enjoying your welcoming party?

_ Hyde: _ It's awesome, although I didn't think you'd do this since I'm not a fighter.

_ Mario: _ You're-a still part of the Smash Bros family. Of-a course we had to give-a you a proper welcome.

_ Hyde: _ Heh. I definitely appreciate it. By the way, do any of the fighters have a black coat as part of their normal outfit?

Mario was slightly confused at first but got what Hyde was asking not long after.

_ Mario: _ Oh. You-a probably saw Joker. He's the first DLC character for Smash Bros Ultimate. You can-a probably catch him in the training room.

_ Hyde: _ I see. Thanks for the info.

_ Mario: _ No-a problem. Catch you later okay?

_ Hyde: _ Sure thing.

________________________________________

Hyde was stretching his shoulders as he prepared to go to bed, the teen now in his night clothes. He definitely enjoyed the welcoming party that the fighters willing made for him. If felt… nice to be wanted for once. He gave a sigh as he fell back on the soft and plush bed. He never imagined the fighters would be _ this _ welcoming towards him.

Speaking of the fighters, Hyde couldn't get his mind off the one called Joker no matter how hard he tries. Was the black coat wearing fighter purposely trying to avoid the In-Birth? Sighing in defeat, he pulled the covers over him, Blue snug in his arms, and went to sleep. It wouldn't do him good just thinking about it.

________________________________________

Hyde had practically forgotten about Joker the next morning. Now it had been about 3 days since he first arrived, the fighters giving nothing but compliments about his cooking. Even so, Hyde still felt so out of place. Did he really deserve to be around so many famous characters when not many people knew about his game series? He just couldn't stop thinking about it.

Those thoughts are what led Hyde to the training room. Maybe practicing with Insulator will help him keep his mind off it. He was throwing Black Orbiters left and right at the targets, rather obvious he was practicing his aim. Everything was going ok until one of the red disks decided to bounce off the wall and hit Hyde dead center in the forehead, causing him to grunt painfully and fall flat on his back. How in God's name did he not see it coming towards him? He grunted once more as he sat up with his elbows on the ground for support when a hand covered in a red glove came in front of him, palm up.

_???: _ Need some help?

Hyde glanced up and saw the owner of the hand, who was clearly male. He had some of the fluffiest hair Hyde had seen in his whole life, the hair being an onyx gray like his eyes, which were covered by a white masquerade mask that was outlined black around the eyeholes. The black jacket he was wearing over his grey vest was leather, going down to his knees with it turning into 3 coattails starting at the lower back. He also had matching black pants and dark brown boots with a slight heel to them. The stranger chuckled upon noticing that Hyde was staring at him, said In-Birth blushing red in embarrassment at that fact.

_???: _ Hey don't worry about it. You don't see people wearing anything like I am everyday, right?

Just like that, all the red from Hyde's face went away as the In-Birth accepted the offered hand and was swiftly lifted back up.

_ Hyde: _ Thanks.

_???: _ No problem. Did you end up on the floor from a training accident?

_ Hyde: _ Y-yeah. I somehow didn't catch a Black Orbiter was bouncing off the wall into my face.

_???: _ Huh. I see.

Just then, Hyde tensed up as a thought had suddenly occured to him.

_???:  _ Are you ok?

_ Hyde: _ Are you Joker?

_???:  _ Oh? (chuckles) Actually, I am. Although it's just my codename. My real name is Akira Kurusu so please refer to me as such.

_ Hyde: _ Ok then. Is that aura around you from the power of a Persona then?

Joker, who was now confirmed to be named Akira, tensed up in shock at the question.

_ Akira: _ How do you know about Personas?

_ Hyde: _ My friend Narukami is a Persona user as well. Met him while trapped in some Crosstag tournament I got forced into, eh heh.

Hyde couldn't help but rub the back of his neck in embarrassment, only to have the everloving f**k scared out of him as blue flames appeared the hell out of nowhere behind Akira and revealed a rather tall figure. It appeared to be a demon with black angel wings attached to his lower back, a red coat that was jagged at the waist with the rest being non-existent and going over the hands, except the fingers which were actually long black claws. The figures body was just as black, it's face looking as if it's made out of glass, the features being blood red and extending towards the horns which were curved towards his face in a 90 degree angle, a white ascot around his neck and each of the jacket sleeves having 3 hearts with a crack down the middle of each heart. Finally, the figure was wearing red thigh high boots that were jagged with gold buttons on each 'spike', the boots having actual heels. The thing about the boots that caught Hyde off guard was the fact they were freaking knives!

Akira just sighed in exasperation and turned around to look at the figure.

_ Akira: _ I told you not appear out of nowhere like that, Arséne.

Wait, Arséne? As in… the gentleman thief Arséne Lupin? Hyde thought the Persona looked familiar but didn't think it was  _ the  _ Arséne Lupin! The Lupin novels were one of his favorite stories to read! The In-Birth was pushed out of his thoughts as he heard a deep voice cut through the air, which had to be from Arséne.

_ Arséne: _ Apologies but I couldn't help but chime in.

_ Hyde: _ For what reason, exactly?

_ Akira: _ How about we sit down first?

So that's how Akira went into explaining how he awakened his Persona and created the Phantom Thieves, who steal the hearts of those with corrupt desires and get them to confess their crimes. Hyde couldn't help but find it all surreal compared to the Hollow Night. An alternate reality that changes based off the mental cognition of the people? Sounds like something from a science fiction novel.

_ Akira: _ You look like you have questions.

_ Hyde: _ (smirks) Yeah. How come Arséne is wearing thigh highs with knife heels but no pants?

Arséne couldn't help but chuckle at the mischief that Hyde apparently had in him. Akira, on the other hand, sweatdropped at the joke question the In-Birth just laid out.

_ Akira: _ Anyway, what made you decide to do some training in the first place?

_ Hyde: _ (sigh) I guess I wanted to forget how… out of place I am here.

_ Akira: _ Hm?

_ Hyde: _ You and all the other fighters are from popular games. The only reason mine has so much popularity is because of that God forsaken tournament and even  _ then _ not many people know about my game. I can't help but think I don't _ deserve _ to interact with such highly appraised video game icons! (grips hair) It's driving me up the God damn wall!

Akira couldn't help but lean back a little bit from the outburst Hyde just did. He might not have known the In-Birth for long, but it was still a bit upsetting to see him like this.

_ Akira: _ Y'know, my game was delayed for about 4 years before being officially released.

_ Hyde: _ Pretty sure you'd still be popular if it wasn't.

_ Akira: _ How do you think we all got our start?

Hyde looked up at the thief, a confident smirk upon the ravenette's face.

_ Akira: _ I know for a fact that even Mario wasn't well known when he first started out. It's because people talked about how good his game series was that he became one of Nintendo's biggest icons. Just give it time and you'll get to be as well known as the rest of us.

Hyde chuckled as he looked up, a small smile on his face.

_ Hyde: _ Heh, I guess you're right. Thanks, Akira.

_ Akira:  _ Now how about I help you train?

_ Hyde:  _ Huh? Hmph, sure.

The duo then got up and started to spar against each other. Hyde didn't know how long it would take for his series to become as well known as the others, but he now knows that he _ does _ belong, regardless of how few people know about him. He'll definitely do his damn best to make sure he makes it to the top alongside everyone else, regardless of the obstacles in his way...

**Author's Note:**

> I just thought that Hyde and Joker would get along fairly well due to Hyde's prior knowledge of Personas. You'll definitely be seeing more of these 2 going through bromance.


End file.
